David Marsh

Specialists have their own recruiting standards. Typically a five star long snapper counts as a two or three star by the usual rankings. Specialists really don't get a good deal through it all... Kickers Deserve Scholarships, Too FISHDUCK.COM Most of the focus in football is placed on the star power positions like quarterbacks, running backs... But specialists do play a critical role on every team.

So what happens when Riley has to take on Lanning? Especially if the Ducks have a solid offense to go with that defense.

I did pose this question a couple weeks ago in my article. I think it is inevitable because the bigger revenue drivers will want a bigger slice of the pie and would happily ditch non revenue building schools. In the B1G think of how much money Ohio State brings in and by comparison how little Indiana or Rutgers brings in? How long do you think Ohio State or even FOX is going to want that to work? FOX would definitely see ditching Indiana for like Oregon would be a revenue increase because Oregon is a bigger and better brand. The New Overlords of College Football FISHDUCK.COM This will come as no surprise to any of you, but the NCAA is dead. It ceded away its power to the major...

If we get UCLA back then the PAC is in a way better place even with the loss of USC. At that point USC is replaced with someone else but thise options aren't going to be as good overall.

I mean... We all saw this coming years ago. So good of the NCAA to finally get around to it.

Sounds like someone just wants to stir up some chaos. .this conference stuff will take quite a long time to be resolved. Nothing moves fast except fan reactions to announcements... And the news being announced is typically months in the making.

Leadership has to come from Sewell this year. Not saying he hasn't led but he is the defacto vet on the defense and he always leads by example.

The Dye brothers have been the heart and soul of the program for around six years, even as a freshman in that aweful 2016 season Troy Dye was making plays and becoming a leader. Then I think the two big defining Dye games were the last two against Washington, both at Washington. Where Troy played through a broken thumb and Travis willed the Ducks to victory. It will be a loss. However, I do feel the coaches have brought in some nice prices at runningback and a better scheme will help our run game. Probably have a bit of a leadership void in the runningback room right now but whoever emerges as the top back(s) I'm sure will take hold of the leadership element. We have some fantastic sophomores.

I'm happy to see the low blocks going away. Those can be dangerous. I am also tired of seeing a shirt yardage play from an offense that has most of their offensive line just torpedo the defense by diving forward with low blocks helmet first. That never struck me as fair and always came with a high chance of injury. It's also one of those things I never felt added anything to the game.

It is a popular feature for the season. There are usually a few surprising games during that time slot. However, the PAC cannot be relegated to all late start times.

This was the era where Oregon was down and Washington was up and USC was less bad. It would be interesting to see numbers going back the last ten years. I know last year Oregon beat everyone in the pac-12 on a regular basis.

Paying 75mil for one team is a steep price for nbc considering they don't have any other college football. Fox and ESPN have whole conferences and as a result they can pay out larger suns potentially because they bring in more eyeballs. How many times have you turned the TV on to watch a Ducks game on an hour or so and ended up watching the previous game or at least part of it? Or after the Ducks have won, how many games have you stuck around to watch? Those are eyeballs that they capture by the nature of having bulk programming. For nbc and ND you go to NBC for the ND game and you leave as soon as it's over. They don't get any eyesballs on an ND game by chance. This feels like ND making a demand that NBC can't cash or won't cash and they know it. It is something that could be used to bow out of independence and save face along the way.

First ... I don't think Oregon loses three. Two maybe but not three. I have a feeling the Ducks won't come out flat on game day like they did under MC. Also I think Oregon State is going to be surprising again this year. I think they beat the Trojans at home. The beavers are hometown warriors, they struggle more on the road.

Recruiting sucks. It takes a lot of time and effort and the investment per athlete does not always deliver players who actually join the team. It's a lot of work and for every commit there are many more who commit elsewhere. I know it doesn't compare to football coaches but I ran a guild in World of Warcraft, yes an online video game, for years and the thing that drove me away from the game faster than anything else was the constant recruitment element. And that was recruiting in a video game ... I can't imagine how grueling recruiting high school athletes is. I'm a high school teacher now and I'm thankful I don't have to recruit for my classes they are just there. Well... I do have an extra curricular that requires some recruiting but that is only for about a month and that month sucks in that regard.

If UCLA is forced to stay in the PAC then the conference is potentially on decent footing. Though if UCLA is forced to stay in the PAC would the B1G decide not to take USC? They'd probably take them anyways.

If Lanning is the next Saban then he will build his program into his vision. Lanning will have the program he wants and that builds loyalty between him and his institution... Hopefully Oregon. Saban is one of the highest paid coaches in all of college football (if not the highest) but if say LSU or Auburn or even Oregon came knocking at his door with more money, I would find it unlikely he would leave Bama, he has built his program in his vision. Why start over? That's what Oregon has to do with Lanning if he is the next great head coach.

There could have been more at play than just money for a merger. Schools or organizations losing some of their autonomy is always a big factor in these sorts of things. Money is the driving force behind all of this right now but it is not the only thing being used in decision making. If it was purely about the money then there would be only two conferences... Fox and ESPN.... It feels like it is trending that way but it's not there just yet.

Now we wait to see what comes out of ESPN and the ACC. The sky isn't falling just yet... There are still plenty of moves to be made. If the ESPN talks die then yes... The sky is falling at that point.

This time of year it is more fun for fans to see if we are "winning" the recruiting wars rather than the alternative of nothing as we wait for the season to start. I know for some fans they like the recruiting wars side of things more than the actual games. I for one cannot wait for fall camp to start. I am ready to see what our current players can do on the field.

By 247 standards Oregon is at 2 5-stars I think I placed the over under at 3.5 for this year.

The problem is that I (the fan) knows everything and I'm telling the coaches what to do as I see it. Now... It's not my fault that the coaches and players can't hear me through the TV and that they don't have a time machine so they can get the useful information beforehand.

Cristobal built relationships and you can tell why his players love him and why it was his players who elevated him to head coach at Oregon. His short comings we're not on the relationship side of things when it comes to football.

Transfers have been around for some time now and it's never been a guarantee that they'll win the job. I mean in 2016, sorry to bring up that dreadful year, Prukop came in and was replaced by Herbert as a starter half way through the season. The transfer portal is the new reality that it must be used every year to some extent. Though I do feel like this year the use has shifted towards depth rather than find a new crop of starters. Yes, some will start but a good coaching staff will develop their younger players at the same time to build tomorrow's program. The real difficulty comes in getting those highly valued recruits enough play time that they see their futures and don't bolt to the transfer portal. As for the quarterback situation... We'll have to see how it turns out. I completely understand why this coaching staff went and got Nix... There was no established starter on the roster and Nix, even with his flaws, is a known entity where Thompson and Butterfield were complete unknowns for a staff that needed to move fast. I loved the days where the next superstar was waiting on the bench... But that doesn't happen much anymore and if it does, it's more often not in a program that recruits at a high level.

That was an era with a very special set of circumstances. The scheme revolutionized college football and the tempo destroyed teams. Chip caught lightning in a bottle and once everyone figured it out just having athletes who could execute it was no longer enough. Now you need a high powered offense and a strong defense and the top athletes to counter every other team trying to do the same. That is ... Until the next major revolutionary idea for the sport and it all gets turned on its head again.

I'm super excited to see Flowe play. The small taste we have had ... 1 game special teams, 1 mostly full game and a spring game... Have shown his potential and it's high. But yeah ... Even if he stays healthy and has a good year I think it would be bad for him to leave for the draft. The injuries are too high of questions for most teams to want to use a draft pick on him. He's probably be taken as a free agent or very late pick. He needs to stay healthy, ball out, and he patient. Lanning and co won't let him down if he does what needs to be done.